Family Doesn't End with Species
by SillyKwado
Summary: When two brothers returned home for the summer, they never imagined that they'd find their family in the process - a family that includes a curious cat, two large dogs, and a pesky fish. Now Lukas and Emil will discover the true meaning of "brothers" as they raise a kitten on their own. Eventual SuFin! DenNor! Onesided(?)HongIce! Animal!AU! Crack! bad title, I know.. Some Language!
1. Part I

Part I

* * *

_Early April_

Two red-tailed hawks flew together towards their favourite city. They were brothers. The smaller one with ruffled feathers was Emil, the younger brother of the darker, sleeker one, Lukas. There was still a small dusting of snow on the ground, and the air was biting cold but the brothers didn't mind as this was the city they were the most familiar with. They were both born and raised here after all.

They quickly found their home, an old nest on top of an electrical pole. No one's used it since they've been gone, but the winter has been harsh on it. Parts of it were missing and snow covered it, but it was home. Besides, they were both males and had no interest in chicks right now.

Emil ruffled his feathers while looking out on the city and turned to his brother who was inspecting the small nest (it was smaller than they originally thought).

"I'm hungry," Emil said looking at the river nearby. "I'm going to go get food. You want to come with?"

"No," replied Lukas. "I'll get some later, you enjoy yourself."

"Alright." Emil readied his wings and flew off towards the river.

As he neared the river, he scanned the murky water for prey. Emil's eyes caught the sight of a medium-sized fish near the top of the water. He swooped down, extending his talons, and nabbed his food out of the water. The fish barely struggled and Emil angled his wings to catch the drift upwards. Then,

"Hey there, beautiful."

Emil looked around for another bird talking to him, but the only thing near him was the fish. He glanced down in surprise at the fish in his talons.

The fish gave a smirk and said, "The name's Xiao, how about you, sexy?"

Emil, in shock, dropped the fish back into the river. Luckily, he wasn't very high up so the fish was still alive, probably. He shook his head. Fucking fish, man.

~.~.~.~.~

He returned back to the nest in record time, still hungry. Lukas looked up in surprise as Emil landed.

"You already ate?" he asked. His tone of voice held no ounce of curiosity, but Emil knew that was just how he was. Lukas wouldn't ask something if he wasn't curious after all.

"Lost my appetite," Emil simply replied. Lukas chuckled slightly.

"That's what you get for eating fish all the time. Come on, let's find some real food." Lukas said taking off towards the city.

"I don't always eat fish," Emil grumbled but followed anyway.

In the city, the two hawks sat upon a building looking for signs of life that wasn't human… or large dog. Emil made that mistake once, it wasn't pretty.

Lukas caught something small move in the corner of his eye. It was in the alley and looked to be a squirrel.

"Hey," Lukas said quietly to his brother. "I think I see something. Stay here."

"What? Why? Is it because of the dog-thing?" Emil asked annoyed.

"Yes," and Lukas took off to the alley before Emil could reply.

Lukas landed on a nearby perch and patiently waited for any movement. Then an overturned box moved. There it is.

Whatever it was though, it seemed unsteady. It doesn't matter of course, food is food.

Lukas got ready to take off and snatch the thing when he heard the most pitiful sound come from underneath the box. It was a meow.

Curious, Lukas got on to the ground and cautiously approached the box, keeping his wings ready just in case he needed to take off in a hurry. Another meow came from the box. It was weak and sounded like the cat was just a kitten.

Lukas quickly knocked the box away revealing a small, white kitten. It was shivering and meowing pitifully. At first, Lukas thought that it wouldn't make too much of an exciting hunt with it just lying there like that, but then he realized he couldn't hurt it. Wait, what?

Lukas stared at the thing. Why couldn't he hurt it? It was food right? Circle of life and all that shit… things die so other things can live. So why was he hesitating?

The hawk thought of the first time he saw his little brother. The weakest chick of the nest. Even when the others left, Lukas stayed behind to help him. He could never abandon his little brother. He could never abandon anyone in need.

_Meow._

It was then he knew he had to help the kitten.

Lukas cautiously approached the small thing, only to jump back slightly when it cracked open its eyes. After a few worrying moments on whether the cat would attack him or not, Lukas realized how ridiculous he was being. It was a kitten for fuck's sake, and he looked sick. Of course, he won't attack.

The hawk approached it again and nudged the small body with his wing. The kitten meowed and looked up at the bird.

"Mama?" he asked faintly and then passed out.

Internally, Lukas was freaking out. What should he do? What did it need? Externally, though, his body knew exactly what needed to be done. Lukas gently grabbed the kitten in his talons and lifted him to where Emil was still sitting.

"What's that? It doesn't look very healthy to eat," Emil stated studying the kitten.

"It's not food," Lukas replied. "C'mon we need to get him to the nest. I'll explain on the way."

~.~.~.~.~

"Um, Lukas?" Emil asked unsurely looking around at the telephone pole. "I don't think it's a good idea to bring that thing up here."

Lukas sighed as he continued his watch over the poor thing. "I know."

"I mean, it's got no wings and our nest is kind of shit," Emil watched as another side of their home fell onto the street below. It simply wasn't made for this many birds or, in this case, two fully-grown birds and a kitten.

"I know," Lukas repeated agitatedly. "But there was no other choice. He couldn't stay down there."

Emil rolled his eyes. His freaking brother and his big brother complex. He just _had_ to be the big brother to everything, didn't he? Emil caught the expression of caring and worry in his brother's eyes and knew he couldn't say no though.

"Fine," Emil sighed. "I'll find us another nest, alright? Something big enough for someone with four legs, yeah?"

"Really?" Lukas asked.

"Yeah. I'll be back soon. Take care."

"I will."

~.~.~.~.~

The sun was starting to go down when Emil finally returned. Lukas had begun to worry that the kitten would have to stay up here and freeze to death, or fall to his doom. Lukas shuddered at either of those thoughts.

"Alright, I think I found a place," Emil said triumphantly. "But it's a bit of a flight. Think you can make it with him?"

"We're going to have to," Lukas replied, gently picking up the still-asleep kitten. The two hawks took off towards the other side of the city. Emil led them into an attic of an abandoned building.

Lukas carefully set the kitten down onto the wood floor and looked around.

"Good job brother. It's nice."

Emil didn't respond and instead walked over to a pile of old blankets.

"We can use these for a nest. Cats need to stay warm right? Would this be enough?"

Lukas went over and inspected it. "Yeah. Help me make a nest."

Together, Lukas and Emil moved the blankets to resemble a nest. It was hard work since the blankets were heavy and dusty, but finally it was finished. They moved the kitten into the middle and the hawks sat on each side of him. Eventually, the kitten stopped shivering and slept peacefully.

"Welcome to the family, brother."

* * *

_June_

Lukas woke up to an empty nest. His first thought was panic, but he saw no signs of struggle or Emil, so they were probably just outside. He stretched his wings and groomed the feathers back into place from when they were ruffled during the night. Then he took off through the large hole in the wall and circled around before he caught sight of his brothers on the ground.

He landed next to them and chuckled at the sight of Emil standing there rigidly as little Tino pranced around him excitedly. Tino had grown a lot in the past few months. He went from a shivering, sickly little kitten to a feisty hunter. He was slightly taller now and had two brown spots, one on his back and one that covered part of his head and right ear.

"Lukas!" Tino said when he saw the other hawk. He pounced over and nudged Lukas with his head playfully. "Are you ready? Do you remember what today is? I do! I'm so excited! I've been waiting for this my entire life! Do you think we'll catch something big? Maybe a dog! Or a bear! Wouldn't that be awesome!" Lukas had definitely remembered what today was (especially since Tino's been talking about it ever since he's learned of it). Today was the day that Lukas and Emil take Tino on his first hunt.

"About time you woke up," Emil said annoyed. "The brat's been bugging me all day!"

"Hey!" Tino said. "I'm not a brat!" He pounced on Emil, who wasn't watching, and the smaller hawk toppled over with a squawk. Lukas snorted as Emil quickly took off into the air and Tino cried "No fair!" after him.

"Alright, alright, calm down, Tino. Emil, come down here," Lukas said. Tino sat down, fidgeting impatiently, as Emil landed warily on the ground.

"First we need to lay down some ground rules," Lukas continued seriously. "Tino, when we're hunting, I need you to do _exactly_ what we say alright? Yes, this is fun but it's also very dangerous, and we don't want you to get hurt. So when we say run, that means you run, no questions asked. Understood?"

"Yes, yes. You've told me all this before!" Tino cried.

"That's because it's serious, Tino," Lukas responded calmly. "I can't bear the thought of you hurt."

"I know."

"Good. Oh, and you also have to do whatever Emil says too."

"What!" cried Tino glancing at the smug hawk.

"Like I said," Lukas continued on, ignoring the kitten's protests. "This is serious. Emil knows how to hunt, you do not. For now, you do as he says."

"Fine," Tino grumbled.

They decided to head to the river first, as it was fairly close to the nest. They got to the bank and Tino watched the water excitedly.

"Alright," Lukas started. "The first step when hunting is to acquire your target. To do this you stay perfectly still and watch. You wait for the movement of the prey, the sounds it makes as it moves, its breathing."

Tino nodded, soaking up the information.

"Once, you find your target, you push off of the ground with your feet and quickly dive to the prey. You extend your talons and grab them in a tight grip so they can't move and get away. This must all be done very quickly. Understand?"

"Yessir!" Tino exclaimed flexing his paws. Emil just gave his older brother a glance that said "are you stupid? Tino can't fly!" But Lukas wasn't paying attention.

"Alright, then. Emil will demonstrate."

"Wait, what?" Emil said.

"Go on," Lukas encouraged, and Emil just sighed. Why did he have to get roped into this?

Emil flew up to a nearby pole and watched the river for any signs of life. After a few short minutes he found one. He narrowed his eyes focusing solely on the prey and spread his wings for takeoff. When the perfect moment came, he swooped down and successfully snatched the fish out of the water. He plopped the fish down on the other side of the river from Lukas and a cheering Tino.

"You know, I like never did catch your name?" Emil recognized that voice as he looked down in shock at the very same stupid fish he let go the first day they returned to the city.

"You!?"

"Hey there," Xiao said with a wink.

"Oh hell no."

"Hell yes. Miss me? I missed you." Emil stared at the stupid fish in shock who continued on. "So, what should I, like, call you? Surely, you have a name right?"

"Why should I tell you?" Emil exclaimed.

"Hm, guess I'll just, like, keep calling you sexy."

Emil, fed up with the stupid fish, grabbed Xiao and threw him back into the river, yelling "Fuck off!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the river, Lukas and Tino just watched the spectacle not making out any of what's being said. Lukas turned to Tino.

"It's exactly like that… except for throwing the fish back into the water… I don't know why he did that. Anyway, you ready to give it a shot?"

"Yes!" Tino said practically jumping up and down from excitement.

"Alright, just remember the steps."

"Okei!" Tino ran to the highest point of the bank nearby and scanned the water. He didn't see anything for a while and was starting to get disappointed until he saw movement from the right. It was a fish. Yes!

Alright, push off of the ground and extend the talons while diving in and snatch the fish! Sounds easy enough!

Tino pushed off the ground and extended his claws, but he ungracefully landed in the water with a splash and sank to the bottom.

"Holy shit!" Lukas exclaimed, in a rare display of emotion and panic, and quickly took off to where Tino landed in the water. Emil flew over too.

"Emil, get in there!" Lukas cried.

"What! Me? Why do I have to?"

"Because you can swim!"

"No I can't! Since when!"

"Since now!"

As the two hawks circled around and bickered, Tino broke the surface and headed for the bank. Lukas and Emil landed next to him.

"Fuck. Tino, are you alright?" Lukas asked scanning his brother for injuries.

"I'm fine, but I didn't catch the fish," Tino panted disappointedly.

"That's alright."

Okay, maybe fishing was a bad idea…

* * *

_Still June_

Emil was hunting on his own this time. They decided that Tino wasn't suited for fishing, and they were going to wait a bit before they try again.

For once, Emil ate his fill of fish without being bothered. He was positive that he'd have to give up fish forever, but luckily that was not the case. The fish today were normal, non-talking ones whose only goal was trying to escape Emil's grasp.

The young hawk landed next to the river near the nest. He looked at his reflection through the water for a moment. At least his crazy brothers weren't giving him gray feathers yet. He rolled his eyes at the thought of them. Lukas has been in this crazy, over-protective brother mood ever since Tino's been living with them, and it doesn't help that Tino's so goddamned curious all the time.

In fact, one time, Lukas and Emil came back from food hunting to find Tino gone. They looked for hours in and around the building. Just as they thought that maybe Tino went to the river or on to one of the streets, they found him inside their home. He got stuck in a hole and couldn't get out.

Lukas nearly had a heart attack for his "baby brother," and yet he still calls Emil that too. Geez, that guy has a serious brother complex.

Emil bent down to take a drink of water while wondering who he could ask to give Lukas some therapy. Surely, there must be someone who knows how to give him a talk, right?

Just as he was about to come up, a fish came up and bonked Emil on the beak. He shot up saying, "What the hell!?"

"Hm, for a first kiss, I was, like, expecting more." Emil recognized that infuriating voice. Does that fish ever leave him alone!?

Emil glared at the fish who was just smirking right back.

"What do you want?" Emil gritted out.

"I already got what I wanted," Xiao said. "But a more responsive kiss would be, like, nice."

Emil tried to count slowly to ten before he lost his temper, but his counting was interrupted by Xiao.

"So, what do you say?" The fish chuckled cockily. Emil lost it.

The hawk quickly snatched the fish roughly out of the water and flew as fast as he could through the windy skies towards the other side of the city.

"Whoa, where are we going? A little early for a shotgun wedding isn't it?" Xiao commented from Emil's talons, pissing the predator off even more.

"Y'know, I can just eat you right?" Emil asked annoyed, slightly tightening his grip around the pesky fish in warning.

"No, you wouldn't eat this beautiful face," Xiao answered with another trademark smirk.

". . . You're right. You're probably diseased."

"Well, you didn't deny my beauty."

"God, you're so full of it!" Emil cried still flying over the city at full speed.

"Of you, anytime," came the reply of the snarky fish.

"That's it," Emil said flying towards the ground.

"Huh? Wait, what are you, like, doing?" asked Xiao as Emil hovered a foot away from the sidewalk.

"Putting you where you can't bother me again – the sewers."

"No wait! Don't let go of me!" And Emil let go of the fish into the grate that led to the dark sewers.

"Good luck getting out of that."

* * *

_July_

The next time the brothers went hunting after that first failed attempt with Tino was a month later. This time, Lukas and Emil planned a bit better before the hunt. They took into consideration the fact the Tino wasn't a bird and didn't have wings. So, they decided to do some mice hunting. Not as tasty as fish, but it still worked. Besides, for some reason Emil refused to go fishing.

Emil and Lukas were flying slowly overhead as Tino ran on the ground beside them.

"What are we hunting this time?" the kitten asked his brothers excitedly.

"Mice," replied Lukas.

"Mice? Cool! Where are we going for that?"

"Emil and I saw an abandoned warehouse the oth-"

"Like our nest?" Tino interrupted.

"Yes," came the calm reply of the eldest brother. "Except this place has a lot of mice we can hunt."

"Right," agreed Emil. "And I'm going to teach you this time."

"Right, wait what?" Lukas asked staring at the other hawk. "Since when? I thought I was teaching him?"

"No, I am. Since you did a piss-poor job at teaching him last time."

"No, I didn't," said Lukas. "And you're not teaching him."

"Why not? Is it because of the dog thing?"

"Dog? What dog? I wanna know!" said Tino from below, but the two hawks ignored him.

"Yes it is," simply replied Lukas.

"That was a simple mistake!" Emil argued.

"Wait! I wanna know what happened with the dog!" cried Tino.

"I'm going to teach him!" Emil continued. He then flew down and perched on the Tino's back.

Tino groaned when Emil landed on him. "Ugh! Emil you're fat! Get off!" A fully-grown hawk on a not-so fully grown cat… Emil was heavy.

"No, I'm not," pouted Emil at Tino, then he turned to Lukas who was still flying above them. "Besides, Tino wants me to teach him, don't you?"

"Get off me and I'll say 'sure'," Tino muttered.

"Fine." Emil flew back up to Lukas, who wasn't looking very happy. Then again, he rarely looks happy anyways.

"Alright," Lukas said giving in. "You teach him." Then he took off ahead into the warehouse and Emil smirked triumphantly. One for Emil, zero for over-protective, controlling big brother.

Emil led Tino into the warehouse quietly and motioned him over to a high ledge that the kitten could still easily get up on. Lukas watched his younger brothers from the rafters above, pretending not to be very interested.

"Alright, Tino," started Emil quietly once Tino made it up. "I'm going to teach you how a real hawk hunts."

"Are you implying that I'm not a real hawk?" Lukas asked curtly but was ignored by the younger.

"So, first of all, ours eyes are very good. We can see something as little as a mouse from great distances. Our eyesight is much better than that of a measly human's. So we rely on it. When we find a mouse, like that one over there, we fly up above it and dive down when they are least expecting it."

"Wait," started Tino. "Isn't this all what Lukas said last time?" Lukas smirked from his perch.

"Yes, but do you see a major flaw with that technique?"

"No?"

"Don't you notice that you're missing a crucial piece, or two, to the hunt?" Emil asked while obviously spreading out his wings.

"Not really," replied Tino with a slight head tilt. Emil suddenly had the strongest urge to fly into a clear window pane. How are _both_ of his brothers so dense?

"Wings, Tino. Wings," Emil deadpanned. Tino looked down at his paws.

"Oh."

"Yeah, so because you don't have wings we have to improvise," said Emil looking around the large, dark room. "Okay Tino. What do you see?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you see any mice? Like that one over there?"

"Over where?" asked Tino looking around. "I don't see anything."

Emil hummed disappointedly and looked up at Lukas who was now watching them curiously. He flew up and perched next to the older hawk.

"Lukas, what should we do? We know nothing about how cats hunt," he said quietly so Tino wouldn't hear.

"I don't know," Lukas said looking away.

"Do you know anyone who can help?"

"No, of course I don't know any cats. The only ones I've ever met I've eaten!" he practically hissed at Emil. Emil sighed.

"Great. Now what do we do? Y'know, chicks are supposed to have left the nest by two months, and we can't even teach Tino to fend for himself!"

"Tino's not a hawk though. He's still growing," Lukas supplied back.

"True, but still I think he shoul- hey… where'd he go?" Lukas quickly turned his head to where they left Tino and found nothing.

"What! He couldn't have gone that far! You're the one who said we had such 'great eyesight', so where the hell is he?!" Lukas took off flying around the building with Emil following after him.

"Can't leave the guy alone for a minute," grumbled Emil when something caught his eye. "Lukas! There!"

The two hawks flew to the ground, landing in front of Tino.

"Tino," started Lukas shocked. "Is that a… a mouse…?"

In front of Lukas and Emil, was a very proud kitten with a mouse in his jaws.

* * *

_Late August_

After a long, unsuccessful day of hunting, Emil was hungry, irritated, and tired. The three brothers tried to hunt together earlier, but sometimes Tino gets too excited and gets too loud. Thus, the hunt was a big, fat failure. Lukas, sensing the younger hawk's irritation, gave Emil permission to hunt on his own for a while without them.

However, Emil was feeling lazy. He didn't want to struggle with something difficult or wait a long time for his prey to reveal itself. He wanted something easy and delicious. Fish-delicious.

Emil flew low over the water looking for easy prey. Ahead of him were humans in a boat doing the same. They had nets and had loads of fish in a bucket. Surely they wouldn't mind one missing right?

Emil quickly flew over to the boat and snatched the top fish off the bucket. He snickered to himself when he heard their shocked cries, and took off to the other side of the lake.

"My hero!"

Fuck.

"You have got to be kidding me," Emil gritted out.

"You, like, saved me!" Xiao said excitedly, well as excitedly as he could sound.

"Just… just shut up for a while!" Emil cried, tightening his grip around the fish and trying not to cry out in frustration. Seriously, of all the fish in the lake, why the hell this one?

Emil chucked the stupid fish into the lake and perched on a nearby bank upset.

"You gotta be, like, more careful with me," said Xiao swimming in circles, making sure everything was okay. He hit the water pretty hard.

"How the fuck did you get out of the sewers!" demanded Emil.

"I swam." Xiao shrugged. "So what should I, like, call you? Hero? Batman?... Hawk-eye?"

"God, you're so stupid."

"Well, I never did get that name."

"And you never will," grumbled Emil.

"You're in a bad mood," Xiao stated.

"No shit. You were supposed to be my food."

Xiao smirked slightly. If Emil couldn't eat him then that meant he liked him!

"Stealing from the humans? That's pretty lazy don't you think?" Xiao teased.

"I wasn't steal- well, I mean- I was hungry! And who needs that much fish anyway?"

"Lazy."

"I am not!"

"Are too~"

"Am not!"

"Are too~!"

"Am no- y'know what? S-shut up Xiao!" And he took off, leaving Xiao staring up at the disappearing hawk sighing lovingly. He called him by his real name!

"Aiyah! Are you chasing after that bird again?" cried Xiao's older brother, Yao, while swimming up to him.

"Yeah…" Xiao said dreamily.

"You know he eats fish, right aru?"

"Yeah…"

"I worry for you sometimes… Knew there was something wrong when I saw that crack in your egg…" said Yao more to himself, while shaking his head.

"Yeah… wait, what?"

* * *

_September_

"Lukas, it's almost October," said Emil to his elder brother one day, as they were watching Tino play in the leaves below.

"I know," Lukas reluctantly replied after a few long moments.

"What are we going to do? He can't come with us."

Lukas didn't reply. He just watched the kitten jump on the fallen leaves, laughing when they made a noise.

"We will have to leave him, won't we?" Emil continued slowly after a while. It wasn't a question, but rather a statement.

"…yes," came the heart-broken response.

* * *

_Mid-October_

"What do you mean you're leaving!?" cried Tino jumping up from the nest that he was sharing with his two brothers.

"I'm sorry Tino, I know we should have told you earlier but… but we have to go," said Lukas choosing to look down at their nest of dirty blankets rather than the pained expression on his youngest brother's face.

"Lukas is right, we have to go," Emil said. "We always go south for the winter months. It gets too cold for us to remain here. We'll be back soon though."

"Wait, so… you're leaving me?" Tino backed up a few steps in disbelief. "Y-you're abandoning me…?"

"No! Never!" cried Lukas coming forward a few steps but stopping when Tino only backed away some more. "Please believe me, we'd never _ever_ abandon you! But we have to go… we've held it off long enough…"

"What am I going to do here? By myself?"

"We taught you everything we know," Lukas tried. "I have faith you'll do just fine."

"But… can't I just come with you?"

"No," said Emil. "I'm sorry, but there's a storm coming and you'd only slow us down."

Lukas turned sharply towards the younger hawk. "_Emil!_"

"It's true Lukas! That storm will be here soon! We need to go now. I'm sorry Tino."

The young cat tried to hold in his tears and not let his brothers see the pain that was coursing through his body, but it was futile. So, he ran. He ran away and hid on the other side of the building in a spot where he knew his brothers wouldn't find him.

Of course Tino knew that birds fly south for the winter. He'd been seeing it happen for the past month. He just hoped that it excluded his brothers, but apparently not. Now, he was left with the sudden panic of loneliness.

After what seemed like hours of silent crying, Tino realized that he hasn't heard from his brothers the entire time. Panic coursed through him as he realized they left.

They left.

They left without saying goodbye.

That was even worse he realized. They always say that goodbyes are the worst part, and Tino agreed. But to part with them on such a bad note? Tino never wanted that.

He sadly went back to the nest. The tears blurring his vision but no longer falling.

However, when he got there, his brothers were still at the nest. Lukas pacing next to it as Emil glared at the wall.

"You're still here?" Tino whispered to himself blinking the tears away. Lukas and Emil snapped their heads in Tino's direction and flew over.

"Tino! Of course we are!" Lukas said. "We didn't want to leave without saying goodbye."

"I'm glad," said Tino. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mea-"

"Tino," interrupted Emil. "It's alright. And I just want you to know that… um… you'll be great," Emil finished with a blush and awkwardly patted Tino on the head with his wing.

"Thanks, Emil." Tino nuzzled the embarrassed hawk affectionately.

"Tino," started Lukas. "I meant what I said earlier. We'd never abandon you. We'll be back, no matter what."

"Thanks, Lukas," Tino said, tears threatening to spill over again. He nuzzled Lukas too before Emil clearing his throat and motioned to the large hole in the wall. Lukas nodded and took one more look at Tino before taking off to the skies.

"You'll do good little bro," said Emil and took off after Lukas.

Tino bounded to the hole and watched them with a small smile until he couldn't see them anymore, but that's okei.

After all, he'll see them again.

* * *

A/N

So! I've been working on this fic for three weeks! It was originally meant to be a stupid little drabble-y crack fic, but it ended up long and serious-ish xD

Because this was originally intended to be stupid, please ignore all mistakes regarding animal biology! XD I looked up some things but others I didn't bother on. Also, ignore Xiao because he's probably so incorrect it's not funny xD

Anyway! Part 2 will be up soon! (It is finished... just needs to be edited)

Thanks for reading! Tell me what ya think! :D


	2. Part II

Part II

* * *

_November_

Two large dogs trudged through the freshly fallen snow to a narrow alleyway. They've making their home in a few large boxes for the winter. Not exactly ideal but at least it keeps the snow off for the most part.

The Black Labrador glared at his other companion. The Great Pyrenees was the reason they didn't find anything to eat today. Not only did he scare away the prey but he also got them shooed off by the humans too. At least, the large white dog had the decency to look guilty.

"Hey, Berwald," started the Pyrenees hesitantly. "You're not angry at me, are ya?"

Berwald gave the other another glare, which actually didn't look too different from his normal look.

"I'm guessing that's a 'yes'?"

"What do ya think, Mathias?" Berwald scoffed.

"Look, brother, I'm sorry, but I honestly didn't know that that human would throw the pan at you!" Mathias tried in his defense.

Berwald winced when he remembered the slight pain on his shoulder, and said, "We're not brothers."

"So? We're as good as any brothers out there, maybe even more so!"

"Why's that?"

"Because we stick together buddy! Through thick and thin, brothers for life!" Mathias announced happily coming up to Berwald and pawing at the younger's side.

"Stop that," Berwald chastised. "Doesn't matter, we're still not brothers, and especially after… _that_."

"What?"

"That. Whatever you just said 'bout 'through thick and thin'… it was weird. Don't say it again."

"Meh, you're just a party pooper. I thought it was totally cool!"

"And that's the problem," Berwald muttered rolling his eyes. "Anyway, I'm going to go get us some food, since we don't have any."

"Really? You thought of a place? Where are we going?" asked Mathias bounding around, kicking snow up everywhere.

"Yes, but you're not coming." Mathias stopped and looked at Berwald

"What! Why not!"

"You're too fluffy, you'd slow us down," Berwald said as he ran out of the alley leaving no room for argument.

"I'm not fluffy, I wouldn't slow us down," Mathias muttered as he flopped down in his box with a huff.

~.~.~.~.~

Berwald walked around the streets looking for a trash can or dumpster he hadn't tried yet. He hadn't found anything and it was beginning to get dark. As he looked around and took in the buildings and smells he realized that he rarely came to these parts of the city. He could smell the fish now from a river nearby.

He looked around some more, trying to find something that looked simple to open, when he heard a squeak. Except, it didn't sound like it came from a rodent, but rather a cat.

Berwald backtracked a bit and tried to find the source. He doesn't eat cats but maybe it can tell him where he can find some food around here.

He found a small cat trying to get out of a snow drift. He neared it just as it popped out of the snow.

"What are ya doin'?" Berwald asked watching it struggle. The white cat with large brown spots looked up at Berwald and gasped. "It's alright, I'm not goin' ta hurt ya," he quickly added on just in case.

"Oh, okei," the cat said with a nervous chuckle. "I've never really seen a dog before, especially one as big as you- Not that you're fat or anything! You're just tall? Anyway, I'm trying to teach myself to fly."

The cat said it so seriously that Berwald couldn't tell if it was a joke or not. He picked the safest route in thinking that the cat was probably telling the truth. Better safe than sorry, right?

"Fly?" Berwald repeated dumbly.

"Yep! My brothers didn't teach me when they were here so I'm going to teach myself!" The cat picked himself off of the ground and started jumping back up to a ledge that was twice as tall as Berwald.

"Ya know ya don't have wings right?"

"Yep!" came the reply. "But that's alright because I have paws! I think if I flap them hard enough I can probably fly like my brothers too!"

Where did this guy get these ideas from? Wait… brothers?

"Ya have brothers who can fly?"

"Yep! Two!" Since when could cats fly?

"Cats… can fly…?" Berwald asked unsurely. The world was starting to not make sense anymore. Maybe it's just been a really long time since Berwald's seen another cat?

"No silly! Not now! I'll be the first cat who can do it! My brothers are actually hawks." Berwald sighed in relief. At least that made sense.

"Now watch!" the cat said from the ledge. "Better remember the name Tino, mister, because I'll be famous! I'll be flying in no time!" Then said cat suddenly took a giant leap off, nearly giving a Berwald a heart attack. He wildly swung his front paws up and down but it had no effect on his fall into the snow drift. Berwald bounded forward to make sure the silly cat was alright.

Tino's butt was the only thing sticking out of the snow. He tried to scramble out but he was stuck. It was cute. Berwald lightly grabbed the cat within his jaws and gently tugged him out. Tino straightened his fur and looked at him with large purple eyes. Strange for a cat but it suited him.

"Thanks!" Tino looked forlornly at the ledge. "I guess I won't be able to learn to fly huh?"

Berwald shook his head and Tino turned back to face him.

"I like you! You're nice!" Berwald blushed at the compliments. He was usually considered a bit scary since he was slightly bigger than most dogs his breed and tended to glare. He just had trouble seeing is all! Tino smiled at him.

"You don't talk much do you?" he asked.

"Not really," Berwald mumbled.

"Well that's okei! My brothers tell me that I talk too much! What's your name anyway?"

"Berwald."

"Nice to meet you Berwald!" Tino looked around and continued, "Well, it's getting dark. I better get back home!"

Tino started to bound away when Berwald realized he still never asked about the food.

"Wait!" the Lab called. Tino stopped and turned around. "Do ya know any good places ta find food aroun' here?"

"You're looking for food?" Tino asked with a head-tilt and Berwald nodded. "Well, there's a warehouse nearby with some mice I go to a lot…"

"Can't hunt mice, and they wouldn't fill me up," Berwald said.

"Oh that's true," Tino replied and then hummed in thought.

"Well, there's always the river… but maybe that's frozen right now? Of course, you can break the ice!"

"I can't fish…"

"Oh, really? Well, maybe I can teach you like my brothers taught me!" Berwald just shrugged in response, and Tino bounded up to him.

"I'm not a cat… I don't think it will work," Berwald said.

"I don't know about that. You look like you're a pretty good swimmer!" chuckled Tino while studying the large dog. Berwald blushed a bit under Tino's bright gaze. "So what do ya say, Berwald? You can stay with me next to the river! Unless you have a home to go to?"

Berwald thought of the boxes in the alleyway and quietly replied, "No home."

"Then you definitely have to come with me! You won't survive on your own!" Tino gasped. Berwald chuckled lightly. Obviously he'd survived this long, he can do it again. Of course, he also had… aw shit.

"There's another thing…" Berwald started. "It's not just me."

"What?"

"Mathias."

"What's that?"

"My broth- friend." Damn it, Mathias was starting to rub off on him.

"Oh, well he can come to!" Tino said. "There's plenty of room where I live! Especially since Lukas and Emil aren't there right now."

"Are ya sure? Mathias can be… annoyin'."

Tino chuckled. "I'm sure it'll be fine!"

~.~.~.~.~

Tino followed Berwald all the way back to the alleyway. When they entered in, a large, fluffy white dog appeared out of the snow and started bounding towards them at full speed. Tino shrieked and jumped onto Berwald's back, claws digging in. Berwald groaned but didn't throw the cat off. He would scream too if he had to meet Mathias for a first time again after all. He understood the pain.

"Berwald! You're back did ya bring food? What's that? Is it edible?" Mathias asked excitedly peering at the trembling cat on Berwald's back.

"No," Berwald said sternly rolling his eyes. "Tino's not food. He's letting us stay with him and teaching us to fish. Tino, this is Mathias. Sorry 'bout him."

"Oh, it's fine!" Tino said retracting his claws from Berwald's back embarrassed.

"Yeah, there's no need ta apologize Waldo!" Mathias said. "And teaching us to fish? That sounds like a lot of work."

"You'll ge' food."

"True that. So, where are we goin' then?" Mathias looked at Berwald who looked down at the small cat.

"Oh! Right! Follow me back to the river! The nest is nearby!" Tino said excitedly as he bounded out of the alley. The dogs looked at each other.

"Nest?" Mathias repeated.

"Apparently, he was raised with hawks," Berwald said with a shrug and hurried out after him.

"Oh cool." And Mathias started after them but turned back around when he got to the turn. "Goodbye, box."

~.~.~.~.~

Two large dogs following a small cat was an interesting sight to see, but they didn't care. Tino and Mathias made an interesting conversation about anything and everything as Berwald studied the cat.

He was interesting and cute. He was so tiny that Berwald immediately felt the need to protect him. Berwald never felt that way for Mathias; of course that guy was just annoying. Tino was different. He was special.

Tino led them to some sort of abandoned building and up to the second floor where a pile of blankets were place on the middle of the floor like a bed.

"Well, this is it," Tino said looking proud.

"It's so cool! And warm!" Mathias said shaking the snow off his fur and pissing off Berwald, who was beside him, in the process.

"Don't do tha'! Ya ge' it everywhere!"

"What?"

"It's fine Berwald!" Tino chuckled. "Well, you two can make yourselves at home. Like I said, it's only me here!" Tino got into the middle of the blankets. He looked around at the nest and then back at the dogs. "Um… there's not much room, but maybe if we squeeze…?"

Mathias and Berwald looked down at the nest of blankets that could maybe barely hold Berwald by himself.

Mathias chuckled, "I don't think even that could work Tino."

"It's fine," Berwald continued. "We can jus' sleep next ta the, uh, nest."

"Oh, well, if you're sure…" Tino said, looking slightly disappointed.

"Yep!"

"It's fer th' best."

"Alright, then," Tino said. "We'll begin lessons tomorrow! For now, I say we sleep." He finished with a yawn that made the others yawn too.

"Sounds good to me," Mathias said flopping over on to his side and falling asleep.

Berwald curled up next to the nest, watching and guarding it for a while, before deeming it safe to doze off as well.

* * *

_January_

Mathias and Berwald have been living with Tino for almost two months now. Tino taught them to fish to the best of his ability (What actually ended up happening though was two large dogs paddling in the water, playing and splashing each other and not paying any attention to Tino. Eventually Tino just gave up too.), and the dogs taught him to use his nose. Up until then, Tino's been mainly using his eyes and ears as tools for finding food, but now he's learned that his nose can be just as good! Sure, Mathias and Berwald were still much better than him but he was confident that he will be just as great, maybe even better one day!

The two dogs have practically deemed the nest "home" now. Berwald couldn't think of a time when he was happier than now with his "sort-of brother" and that absolutely adorable cat.

Berwald watched Tino jump around and play in the snow from the doorway of the building. Mathias left earlier in search of food from the "fancy part" of the city (the Northside). He was beginning to get sick of fish and he'd be probably gone for almost the entire day.

Tino bounced from one drift of snow to another, laughing when he plopped into a particularly large pile. He looked over at Berwald who was lying down and watching him with a small smile.

"Hei Berwald!" Tino yelled. "Come and join me!"

"No thanks," Berwald chuckled.

"Aw, why not!?"

"Hm, because it's cold and I don't wanna ge' wet."

"But that's no fun! C'mon Ber! Play!" Tino said jumping into another pile. Unfortunately, it was bigger than he expected and he completely fell in with a squeak. Berwald quickly stood up in concern.

"Tino?" he called, but when he heard no response he quickly went over to the large drift.

"Tino? Are ya-" A yell cut him off as Tino burst out of the snow drift and jumped headfirst at his side. The cat fell back on his butt with an "oomph" and Berwald stared down at the cat bewildered. Tino looked up at him and pouted.

"You were supposed to fall over," Tino said in explanation. Apparently, a 70-some pound dog doesn't topple over very easily. Berwald raised an eyebrow at Tino's explanation then fell over on to his side causing snow to fly up into the air. Tino laughed and pounced on Berwald.

"Got ya! I, Tino the Fabulous, have toppled over this beast!" Tino stated proudly while standing on Berwald's side looking out over the snow, until his perch started to vibrate.

"Berwald?" he asked walking up the moving body to the shoulders and then to the head. "What's wrong?" Tino watched Berwald shake and realized he was actually laughing! The usually stoic canine was laughing! It was actually kind of cute and Tino started to laugh too. He couldn't help it.

Berwald eventually regained control of himself and noticed Tino still on his side.

"What are ya doin'?" he asked with a small grin.

Tino stood up and smirked down at the dog underneath him. "I am showing you who's the top-dog around here!"

"Are ya now? Ya think yer Alpha?"

"Yeah! I'm the Alpha!" Tino said proudly puffing out his chest. Berwald let out a small laugh.

"Oh really?" he asked mischievously. "Well, then. Let's see about tha'." He suddenly got up causing Tino to fall over and the cat quickly took off running.

"You have to catch me first!" he yelled back to Berwald. Berwald ran after him but with the snow flying into the air and Tino's white fur, he quickly lost sight of him. Plus, it didn't help that Berwald didn't have the best vision either.

Finally, he saw some sort of brown-gray spot in the snow that looked like the spot on Tino's back. Berwald made quietly made his way over but his shadow gave away his position. Tino shrieked and began to run away again.

Tino and Berwald played like this for a long while until Berwald finally had to stop. The cat had a lot more energy than he did, and, even though it was cold out, he was starting to get hot from all that running around. The black lab flopped over onto his back and began rolling around in the cool snow.

Tino came over to Berwald and tilted his head as he watched his friend.

"What are you doing?" he laughed as Berwald kept doing… whatever he was doing.

"Rollin'," he panted. "Feels goo'."

"Really?"

"Try it." So, Tino rolled onto his back too and started copying Berwald.

"You're right! This is fun!" Tino said while laughing.

"I'm always righ'."

Tino snorted. "You wish."

~.~.~.~.~

When it finally started to get dark, the two made their way back home. They were covered in head to paw with snow, but they didn't mind. They were tired but happy with just each other's presence.

When they stepped into the building where the nest was, they found Mathias sitting at the door waiting with an upset expression on his face.

"What took you guys so long?" he demanded.

Berwald and Tino looked at each other and chuckled.

"Sorry Mathias," Tino said. He actually did look apologetic unlike Berwald who didn't really care that Mathias was jealous.

Berwald just came in and shook the snow off of himself, getting the area around him wet, including Mathias and Tino (who was already wet so it didn't matter). Mathias made a noise of protest while Tino just laughed and copied Berwald too. Though, it didn't work out quite as well and instead he ended up with fur sticking out and still had snow on him.

Berwald just laughed at Tino's pout. He tried to get some of the snow off of him but his paw was too large and he ended up packing the snow more deeply into Tino's fur. The cat laughed at Berwald's clumsy attempt and looked at the snow now clumped to his coat.

"Whatever," Mathias said with an eye roll. "You guys can flirt down here all you want. I'm going back up to the nest. Oh, and you're all not allowed up until you're dry!" And with that, he took off towards the upper level. Meanwhile, Tino and Berwald were blushing hard due to Mathias's comment and they quickly looked away from each other.

"We're not-! Er…" Berwald tried to protest, but Mathias was long gone, and the only listener left was Tino. He gave a sideways glance at the cat before looking away again and continuing. "That is… if you want… m-maybe? I don't know… y-you're probably… uh…" Berwald was rambling and stuttering and making an absolute fool out of himself and he knew it.

Finally, Tino silenced him by jumping up and giving him a quick lick on the side of his snout.

"Does that help?" Tino asked bashfully, and Berwald could only nod. He felt like his heart was going to burst and his face was going to catch on fire.

"O-okei!" Tino giggled before running off.

* * *

_Sometime between November and February_

Xiao looked up forlornly at the sky.

"My sexy, beautiful darling… where are you…?"

"Aiyah! Xiao! Get back down here! You'll freeze to death up there!"

* * *

_Late February_

Lukas and Emil ended up coming back a few months earlier for Tino. Argued-out and irritated from the long journey they finally reached their nest… their home… only to find Tino curled up between two strange, gigantic dogs.

They sat at the window for a moment, staring at the beasts surrounding their precious brother.

"What the fuck!?" Emil managed to squeak out. He looked over at Lukas who had a murderous aura around him.

"My… precious… brother," he growled. His talons dug into the wood underneath him.

"Now, Lukas, I say we should get an explanation first, yeah?" Emil said trying to calm down his older brother. It wasn't working.

"My precious brother!"

Suddenly, one of the beasts, the white one, woke up from Lukas's screeching. He yawned and sleepily blinked his eyes open. Lukas seethed and readied his wings for an attack while Emil froze. After all, his last encounter with a dog didn't go over very well, and this one was bigger.

"You!" Lukas yelled. "How dare you!?" The dog looked up curiously at the two hawks.

"What do ya mean? Who are you?" he asked with a smile and a wag of his tail. "I'm Mathias, nice to meet ya!"

"I didn't ask for a name! Get out!"

"Lukas-" Emil tried but was cut off again.

"Lukas? That's yer name?" the white dog asked.

"Shut up!" Then with a war cry, Lukas took off and tried to claw out the dog's eyes.

"Holy shit!" Mathias yelled before running away only to be chased by Lukas who was angrily yelling profanities and trying to get a hold of him. He was only grabbing fur right now, good thing the dog had lots of it Emil guessed.

The commotion caused Berwald and Tino to wake up too. Berwald, sensing an intruder, immediately stood over Tino in a protective stance and growled. Tino literally shook from the force of it and had never seen Berwald, who was usually so kind and sweet, that angry before. Tino looked around trying to figure out what was happening before he spotted Mathias being attacked by…

"Lukas?" he asked with a slight head tilt. After hearing the excessive profanities Tino realized it was indeed his older brother. "Wait, Lukas! Stop!" Tino said bounding forward out of Berwald's protective stance.

"Tino!" Berwald said and tried to go back to covering him, but Tino just smiled back and said, "It's okei Berwald! I know him! He's my brother!"

Suddenly, Lukas and Mathias stopped their yelling and running, and looked over at Tino wide-eyed.

"Brother!?" Mathias cried. "Him?! How!?"

Lukas flew over to Tino and landed in front of him. The cat was almost as tall as he was now.

"Tino," Lukas said with a small smile. "My brother. You've grown."

Tino beamed at him and nudged his older brother with his head purring. "Lukas! I missed you! It's been so long! Is Emil here too?"

Lukas nodded and looked up at the hole where Emil was perched. The younger bird rolled his eyes but flew down anyway to land near the other two.

"Hey, little bro," Emil said with a slight smirk.

"Emil!" Tino said as he pounced on the other who fell over with a squawk.

"Why me?!" cried Emil as he tried to escape Tino by flapping his wings.

"Alright, alright," Lukas finally said calming his brothers down. "Now Tino, _why the hell are these two beasts here?_" he growled, the room suddenly dropping a few degrees.

Mathias gulped and started slowly backing away. Berwald just glared at the older hawk. He wasn't about to let his new home be invaded by these puny birds – brothers or not.

"Oh Lukas! These are my friends! Berwald and Mathias!"

"New friends… that live here?" Emil asked looking at the dogs.

"And were sleeping with you?" Lukas growled.

"Oh Lukas. They weren't sleeping with me. Only Berwald. Mathias usually sleeps a little bit away since Ber's a little possessive," Tino explained thinking it would clear up the situation. Obviously not. Lukas immediately bristled and Emil looked shocked.

"Uh Tino… I don't think that's a goo' idea…" Berwald said now taking steps back. Mathias followed suit.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Tino asked with a head tilt.

"Are you Berwald?" Lukas asked lowly to the black lab.

"Yes he is!" said Mathias happily. "Have fun! I'll, uh, be right back… later!" The Great Pyrenees ran out of the room leaving Berwald glaring after him as he was left by himself. Tino watched after Mathias confused. He glanced at Berwald then to his brothers, and it dawned on him.

"Hei Berwald?" Tino started. "Mind giving us some time alone?"

The large dog nodded and eagerly left the room, probably going to go kill his brother.

Tino turned to a fuming Lukas and an indifferent Emil.

"So… how have you guys been?" the cat asked with a smile.

"Y'know, same old, same old. You've gotten big," Emil commented.

"Have I?" Tino looked down at himself worriedly.

"Stop changing the topic," Lukas cut in. "Tino, what is going on?"

"Nothing Lukas! Honest! They're my friends!"

"But this was our home," Lukas said slightly dejectedly. He glanced at Emil who just shrugged.

"It still is!" Tino said. "But we have plenty of room. Why not let some of my new friends live here too? Besides, I was all by myself! It's dark and lonely in here. They're nice guys. Just give them a chance. Please, Lukas? Emil?"

Lukas looked indecisive but then after a while he sighed. "Very well. I'll give them a chance. Only because I trust you, Tino."

"Thank you!" he said running over to Lukas nudging and purring. Then he looked over at Emil expectantly.

Emil shrugged and said, "I don't care either way."

"Yay!" was the only warning Emil got before he was pounced on again.

"Would you stop that!?"

* * *

_March_

Emil left the building early in the morning before his brothers/friends/roommates woke up. Since he and Lukas have come home, he has had no time to himself. Either Tino's trying to constantly be with them to make up for lost time which causes Berwald to follow as well as Mathias, or Lukas bothers Emil who's trying to be by himself.

The smaller hawk flew over the city, enjoying the fresh air and, most importantly, the silence. He must have flown for what seemed like hours before finally stopping by the lake. He landed on a branch hanging low over the water, just watching the sun shimmer off of the lake and the humans emerge from their houses.

"And my hero has returned! How's it going sexy~?" said the most annoying, narcissistic, smug voice Emil's ever heard. He had completely forgotten this thing existed during his time away. Now, suddenly, he remembered why he was so anxious to leave. Briefly, he wondered how long Emil would have to ignore him before Xiao got bored.

"Is your daddy an owl, cause man you're a hoot!"

Emil glared at the fish staring at him from the water below. "Does it look like my father was an owl? Maybe you need to get your species checked because you're dumber than a rock!"

"Ouch. That hurt," Xiao said.

"Y'know, I thought fish weren't supposed to live that long? How the hell are you still alive?"

"The power of love, baby~" and Emil rolled his eyes. "So, will I, like, ever get that name?"

"Nope."

"There you are," said a voice (Lukas) from next to the hawk causing him to nearly fall off the branch in shock. "I've been looking for you."

"Lukas," Emil muttered in disdain. How the hell did he find him?

"Who's that?" asked the annoying fish. Was he jealous? Emil almost smirked.

"None of your business."

"It's always my business."

"Since when?"

"Since, like, forever."

"What kind of an answer is that!?"

"Emil, stop playing with your food," said Lukas with a slight smirk.

"But- he's the one- I'm not- ugh!"

"Emil? Is that, like, your name?" Xiao asked.

"No!" Emil shot at him at the same time Lukas said, "Yes."

"Cool," Xiao said. "What's it mean?"

"The fuck if I know!"

"Rival," Lukas answered for him.

Xiao nodded. "It sounds foreign ("Oh, and 'Xiao' isn't?"), is it penguin?"

"What the fuck?" Emil cried. "Where'd you get that from?"

"Puffin, actually," Lukas replied.

"Nice."

"I give up," the smaller hawk mumbled.

* * *

_April_

Mathias woke up to the sun shining on his face.

"Spring!" he cried, jumping up. "Spring is here! At last!"

"Shadd'p, Mads," Berwald mumbled sleepily using his paw to bring the cat closer to him.

"But it's spring!"

"He said shut up," muttered Emil, with his eyes still closed, from the blanket nest where he was leaning against Lukas.

"Let's play! Tino?" Mathias asked with his tail wagging, but all he got in response was a soft, warning growl from Berwald.

"Lukas?" he whined. The hawk cracked open one eye to see the dog looking dejectedly at him.

Lukas sighed. "Fine. Get off me, Emil." Emil shifted over and Lukas stretched his wings before flying over and landing on Mathias' back.

"You're taking me outside because of this. So, mush."

"I'm not a sled dog," Mathias chuckled but walked outside with the hawk on his back anyway.

"Don't care."

When they got outside, Lukas immediately took off to the air as Mathias bounded on some budding flowers. He ran around in the grass for a while, relishing in the fact that there's no more snow or slushy stuff on the ground. Finally, he flopped down on to his side and laid on the grass. Lukas came over and landed on him.

"What? You wore yourself out already?"

"Nah," panted Mathias. "I'm just enjoying the sun." Lukas didn't say anything in response. He just watched the dog's peaceful expression for a while.

"You're too fat," Lukas said breaking the silence as he walked on Mathias' side. His talons kept getting tangled up in the long fur.

"I'm not fat, I'm fluffy!" Mathias cried getting up off of the grass.

"I could make a nest out of you." Lukas said more to himself, ignoring the other's comment.

"You better not pull out any fur. That hurts," Mathias warned.

"I won't," Lukas said with a roll of his eyes. "Though I thought Great Pyrenees didn't have this long of fur?"

"They usually don't," Mathias said as he walked them towards the town. "I think I sort of take after my grandfather. He was an Old English Sheepdog."

Lukas snorted. "Are you serious?"

"Yep!"

"And just when I thought you couldn't look anymore derpier."

"Hey!"

* * *

_Some Month Soon After_

"Hei Berwald?" Tino asked looking up at the large dog who was guarding the room (not that it needed to be guarded. He just felt the need to protect his home).

"Hm?"

"Y'know how I was talking to that nice tabby down the street the other day? The one with all of the kittens?"

"Ja?" Berwald looked at Tino curiously, not sure where the conversation was going.

"Well, I want to have kittens! Can you give me some Berwald?" And with that many things happened at once. Berwald choked and blushed heavily, while Emil coughed and flapped his wings uncomfortably from where he was sitting at the other side of the room. Lukas and Mathias had just entered the room as Tino had said that and Lukas looked absolutely furious while Mathias looked like he would die of laughter if he wasn't in so much pain at the moment.

"Oh my god Lukas! Retract your claws!" Mathias yelped.

"They're talons," Lukas replied not taking his eyes off of Berwald, but he did as he was asked anyway and Mathias breathed a sigh of relief. Berwald was looking extremely uncomfortable and not just from Lukas' glare.

"Well, this is my cue to leave," Emil said readying his wings.

"Why?" Tino asked tilting his head.

"Because… oh god, I don't wanna talk about this!"

"Nonsense, Emil," Lukas said hopping off of Mathias and towards Tino. "After all, we never talked about the birds and the bees. It's only natural… sort of."

Mathias and Berwald paled.

"Hey buddy," Mathias started. "Do ya wanna…?"

"Hell yes," Berwald replied, and they both took running out of the room.

"Traitors!" Emil called after them. Tino looked even more confused.

"Why are they scared? I mean, you guys are birds. And bees are only scary when you try to eat them."

"Well, it's not that- when did you try eating a bee?" Lukas shook his head. "Never mind, it's not important. Now, the first thing you need to know is that, well, your anatomy and our anatomy are… different."

"Oh my god," Emil groaned. "I refuse to be related to you!" Then Emil quickly took off out of the room sparing the horribly embarrassing conversation. He quickly spotted Berwald and Mathias and bonded with them for a few hours.

After that, Tino never asked for kittens again. (Though he still secretly wanted them. They look so cute!)

* * *

_May_

"And then the idiot has the gall to mock me _again_!" Emil complained to his brother. The two hawks were taking a short break and decided to stretch their wings for a while. After all, it's not very often they get to fly like this with their furry friends around. "God I _hate_ fish!" Emil groaned.

Lukas chuckled. "He sounds interesting, Emil. Why haven't I heard of him before a few months ago?"

"Because! He's a _fish_!" Emil cried as if it explained everything.

"So?" Lukas said. "Our brother's a cat who's in love with a beas- I mean, a dog."

"You are never going to forgive him are you?" Emil asked eyeing his older brother.

"Nope. He tainted our younger brother. I'm surprised you're even hanging out with him."

Emil rolled his eyes. "He didn't taint our younger brother."

Lukas hmphed and was about to argue with him when a shrill cry was heard from above them. They glanced at each other then looked up only to find a gigantic bird flying above them. He was larger than them and had a wingspan almost twice as long as Lukas'. He was a bald eagle. Lukas gave a warning cry as the bird dived towards them.

"Hi guys!" the eagle said happily, easily flying next to them. "Think you can help me out?"

Lukas and Emil glanced at each other bewildered. "Sure…" started Lukas. "What do you need?"

"Wonderin' about this city. See, I'm lookin' for a nice place to stay for a while, but I'm new here. Do you guys live here? Oh, I'm Alfred by the way!" the eagle said proudly.

"Yes, we live here," Lukas answered. "I'm Lukas and this is my younger brother Emil. We are from the eastern side of the city. It's a decent place. It has plenty of rivers and lakes along with squirrels and mice."

"The fish could be better," Emil grumbled.

Alfred chuckled. "Well, mice won't do me much good. You say the fish isn't great here?"

"He's exaggerating," Lukas said hitting his brother lightly.

"What about bugs or bird feeders? Plenty of those around?"

Emil looked at Alfred strangely. "How the fuck would we know? Does it look like we eat that shit?"

"Emil, be nice," Lukas reprimanded. "From what I've seen, the humans do have quite a few feeders but I think you'll find them more on the outskirts. There are quite a few in the north at the houses near the lake I think."

Alfred nodded then called back behind them, "Ya hear that Artie? They said there are bird feeders here!"

"Bloody hell! Stop flying so bleeding fast!" came the reply from a robin behind them, beating his wings furiously trying to catch up to them. The brothers had to do a double take just to be sure that that's what they were actually seeing.

"Sorry Artie!"

"_Arthur_! You twat!" Arthur corrected angrily. The brothers and Alfred slowed down their flying slightly so the robin could keep up.

"Uh…" Emil started. "So are you two…? The _brothers like us _part went unsaid. Emil figured it was implied. Apparently not.

"Yep!" Alfred said. "We're lovers!" Emil and Lukas both blushed as well as Arthur.

"Don't say it like that!" Arthur cried.

"We've been together for – how long Artie?"

"2 and a half years. And don't call me that!"

"Aw, c'mon Artie! You look tired, do you want a ride?"

"Of course, I'm tired! I've been chasing after you all day! And no, I don't want a ride. I'm perfectly capable of flying."

"But the hero should always help others in need!"

"I'm not in need!"

Alfred looked over at the amused brothers. "Hey! Thanks for the help by the way!" Then he turned to his… partner? Mate? "C'mon Artie! Get on!"

"No!" Arthur replied stubbornly but Alfred snatched the little robin in his talons anyway.

"A robin and an eagle… isn't that a bit weird?" Lukas asked after a long moment of watching Alfred and Arthur bicker as they flew off towards the north.

"At least they're both birds…" Emil said pointedly to Lukas who glared at his brother.

"At least mine's not food," Lukas snapped back.

"Shut up! And he's not mine! He just stalks me!"

* * *

_Early June_

"Hey guys," Emil said as he flew over to his friends who were enjoying the nice, warm weather outside near the river. Tino was lying on top of Berwald who was napping in the grass. Lukas was on top of Mathias, buried in his fur like a nest. He kept sending small glares to Berwald ever now and then. Mathias was playing with a dandelion.

"Hi Emil!" Tino called causing Berwald to wake up.

"How was the flight?" asked Lukas from his "nest".

"Not bad. Oh, Alfred and Arthur says 'hi'."

"Who?" asked Mathias.

"Some birds we met a few weeks ago. They were… interesting," Lukas said and Mathias frowned a bit. Emil landed on the ground near them.

"Oh! That reminds me" Tino said jumping off of Berwald's back. "We have a neighbor! Have you guys met him yet?" The others shook their heads.

"What neighbor?" asked Emil.

"Here! I'll go get him! Wait here!" Tino said excitedly before bounding off.

"What neighbor?" Emil asked again. The others just shrugged.

"Didn't ev'n know we coul' have neighbors here," Berwald said.

"Apparently, we already do," Lukas replied.

"Guys!" Tino said running back. "I want you to meet Lars!" Behind him was a fluffy, adorable brown rabbit. Emil and Lukas looked at it confused while Mathias bounded up to it with his tail wagging.

"Hi! I'm Mathias! Aren't you cute~!" Mathias cooed and put his snout to the ground. The rabbit glared at the over-excited canine.

"I'm not 'cute'," came the deep reply. Mathias leaped back in shock and Tino laughed.

Lukas watched as the silly dog poked the rabbit with a large paw and bark at him excitedly. Emil came up beside him.

"Why are all of our friends food?" he asked annoyed. Lukas just chuckled in return.

"Hey, Emmy~ Don't, like, forget about me!" cried Xiao from the water effectively pissing off Emil.

"Yeah, Emil," teased Lukas. "Don't forget about your boyfriend!"

"He's not my-!"

"Whaaaaat!?" cried Tino. "Emil has a boyfriend?!"

"No, I don't!"

"Way to go Emmy!" Mathias said ignoring the younger hawk and Berwald nodded.

"Ber! Don't take their side!" Emil argued.

"Come to me, my love~!" the fish cried from the water causing the others to laugh as Emil blushed darkly.

"I give up with this family," he groaned.

_Fin_

* * *

A/N

Forgot to mention that this story would only be two parts in the last author's note, but I hoped you liked them! I certainly enjoyed making this story! ^^

Wish I could've put more Xiao in this but hey, I added him in at the end xD

Lol, I messed up when saving the first part of this and saved it as "The Greatest Family is" by an accident. xD

Oh and thanks to my friend, Ana, for coming up with half of these scenarios :D

Tell me what ya think! :D And thanks for reading!


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